Questions & Advise on New Phal's overall health!

[emmajs243]

Today, at Costco, I saw they finally brought some Phals back in! However, they come in a decor pot with another plant squished next to It and moss packed on top. AND THEN in TALL, clear, plastic floral bags so, moving the moss to inspect wasn't really doable.

I found one of my favorite looking Phals that had 4 or 5 basal keikis! one leaf was split at the base because of all the keikis pushing out on it...I managed to move the moss a bit to find roots 100% black and molding. 😥 Is it bad to say, I was still tempted to buy it due to all the keikis alone??

Anyways! I saw a single one with flowers I had actually never seen before AND her moss was looser so I could view some of the roots. they looked beautiful (for a store Phal) so I grabbed her! She also currently has 2 spikes and a 3rd just starting! AND she had the most leaves, 5 on one side and 4 on the other. Although 2 leaves, second from the bottom, are broken (I figured this is better then unknown root/stem conditions with all the wet moss packed down). OH! And! The lowest leaves are SO tiny. I have never seen leaves so tiny on a Phal! Does this indicate anything?

But, on to Important questions!

Leaves:
The breaks look dry and slightly older...should I still do anything for them? I know cinnamon works for new breaks but does it do much once the break dries?

Media:
There is a little bit of white, slightly fuzzy, cob webby stuff intertwining throughout the bark. I am not positive if it is mold from the damp moss being packed down or what? Any ideas? I also wonder if maybe it is like mealybugs or something else? The orchid pot was SO tightly squished inside of the decor pot with this other plant...I could barely pull it out so Idk how she could breath...


There is also a cotton web spot on the bottom of one or two of the leaves and some just little white dots sporadically.

Roots:
A few air roots have dead/molded/desiccated tips (they also were smothered with damp moss)....I hope I'm intervening early on and fresh air will help (only at store 1-2 days)...BUT, would you guys trim away the tips of these dead air roots? Is it ok to trim part of a root even?


If I should leave the dessicated root tips, there is one root in specific that is really wet/moldy/squishy. Should I at least trim this root back to the point where it is healthy? I just dont want anything spreading...If yes, do I trim close to the dead/live root intersection but trimming into dead root or do I go past the intersection and cut into healthy root?


Lastly, there is one visible green root in the pot that has an odd black, sunken in, oval spot. I have had so many Phals come home with root rot or black rot in the past...I'm probably just being paranoid but would you guys worry about this or trim this section off? The only odd thing to me is that it is SO isolated and sunken in just in that spot and so healthy around it that maybe its due to something else??? Thoughts!? Watch for spreading?

Thank you guys SO much in advance! Lately, I've received orchids w/some questionable things and trying not to worry, I have left them...then they have turned into time consuming issues...I just don't have the knowledge to discern what's natural vs. worrisome and needs watching vs. needs immediate action...SO truly thank you for ANY help! I just am not trusting my judgment lately!

And just because! Flowers!

[aliceinwl]

Looks like a nice one! Some of these spotty yellow ones are fragrant in the morning at warm temperatures in bright light so she’s worth a sniff.

The old leaf breaks are nothing to worry about, just cosmetic issues. The air roots were likely damaged during repotting by the grower or during shipping. I sometimes snip off the dead part without cutting into live tissue to neaten up my plants but it’s not necessary.

A lot of times it seems like plants are thoroughly drenched before shipment to the stores (probably because this is the last water they’ll get for awhile). I frequently see some mold in such pots. I just let them dry out before I rewater and it goes away.

The media doesn’t look too bad. I’d probably wait at least until this one finished flowering before I’d repot. There are a lot of healthy visible roots at the bottom. Once those go silver, give it some water. The black root tip doesn’t look particularly worrisome it probably got bruised or damaged during shipping.

You showed more restraint than I, I don’t think I could have passed on the Phal with all the keikis ;-)

[emmajs243]

Thank you SO much alice!!!! I too figured the leaves were just cosmetic issues! And thanks....IF this orchid doesn't have something awful come up it will be my first truly healthy orchid I've inspected and chosen personally!! 🙌🤞! I had felt like I didn't do too bad! I just couldn't help myself in the moment!

I was really hoping the mold would just dissipate with good air flow and nice time to dry back out but I will definitely wait and see! Why ruin good flowers for no real reason? And so relieved to hear the black tip there isn't a complete red flag! I've been brushing off so much just to later kick myself for brushing it off so just wanted to make sure this time!

And Alice....man...keikis....I partially had to post about it to see how many people reacted like you did and find out if I am an idiot that should run back and search for the keiki plant or not! I have always wanted to experience kiekis before!! 🙁

[cluelessmidwesterner]

Emmajs,

I ended up also today buying a new Phal but at Wally world. I didn't intention to buy it. But while trying to look at the roots in the clear pot, which I might add was jammed into the cheap plastic decorative pot so tight that it didn't move, I literally pulled it out of the pot. Being raised by strict older parents, I felt obliged to purchase it. That's what I get for being nosey.


It was literally crammed into a pot with. 90% of its good roots in the top 1/8 of the pot. Brought it home. I sprayed it down with Safe Garden Fungicide 3 before bring it into the house proper. Just in case there were any tiny livestock hitching a ride on it. I pulled it out of its pot and saw that the bottom half had soggy bark sitting in it. I soaked what media still left on the roots off. It of course had the obligatory moss plug in the center. I couldn't get it back into the clear pot even if I wanted because of the way the roots grew. It's presently stuffed in a 5" regular clay pot without any media. Some 5.5 inch slotted pots will hopefully be here on Monday. The only reason I didn't pot it is I cannot get any media past the roots at the top (even after soaking) in the 5" pot. It has one and a half flower spikes. I'm not exactly sure if that's a branch or an alien on the half spike I fully expect it to blast it's flowers and buds anyways but decided to wait to cut the spikes until the new pot shows.

[fishmom]

Nice roots! You will have a happy plant!

[emmajs243]

Thank you guys!!!! And YAY!!! I might have FINALLY chosen a truly healthy plant!!!!

Midwesterner....I have not laughed as hard as what I just did reading your post in a LONG time! Thank you for putting THAT picture in my head! It's just so easy for me to see because I am the EXACT same way! I ALWAYS try to pull the clear pot out and inspect the roots whenever possible!! I HATE when they have paper wrapped around the pot/roots/plant so you can't really do that OR so much moss packed on top that moving the orchid would leave moss all over the store floor!

This girl was pretty impossible to view her pot between the floral bag going all the way past the flowers and then all the moss packed on top! When I got her home and completely tore apart all their "decorating" work, it sounds like she was about as stuck as your Phal! When I finally pulled her pot out, an entire side was indented in about 1/3-1/2 the pots depth! It took about an hour for it to relax back to its original shape! I don't even know how they get some orchids in these things!!

Your orchid doesn't look bad at all! At least you didn't pull out an orchid with rotted roots! That's normally about the best orchids I find around my local stores If even THAT good! She has quite a few leaves too!! I can definitely imagine getting bark past her roots being problematic! Haha! Often when a spike is trimmed back a secondary spike starts....this one looks like the poor spike was broken off however! Either way, it looks like you have a secondary spike growing nicely!!!

Hey! Does safe garden fungicide 3 kill bugs too??? That's what you meant by tiny livestock right?? That's such a good idea and seems to be something easy to find. Do you think it works well? Any issues with it harming the plant or is it pretty safe to use?

[cluelessmidwesterner]

Sorry I meant to write Garden Safe rather that Safe Garden. That's what I get when I try to send a message via my Fire tablet. No proof reading

Garden Safe Fungicide 3 is mostly Neem oil so you have to be careful what plants you spray with it. Given the pot disaster if the bloody Phal doesn't like it then tough cookies.

But to answer you original question, yes it kills bugs and mites. Given that care instruction for the orchid said "Water with 3 ice cubes", I don't think that the Neem oil would have been the worse of its problems.

[emmajs243]